This may be very late, but I just have to add the best pencil for drawing to the list.
This is the #314 Draughting Pencil. Berol used to make them, then Sanford. I couldn't find them anywhere, but now think that they are being made by General.
They are very soft, smooth, sturdy, and you can't get all ranges of tones with the one pencil.
The next best pencil is the woodless pencils, but you have to buy different pencils for the effects that you want. The old Turquoise pencils are the same.
For a cheap pencil, I like the Ticonderoga wood finished pencil. Looks like polised hardwood on the outside.
I, personally, dislike the Ebony pencils as they seem very scratchy, like fingernails on a blackboard, and I don't care for the results, either.
I like to work on a smooth paper, the larger the better! And, I also like to use soap erasers or Magic Rub with my pencils.
Hope they don't stop making those #314 Draughting Pencils!

I have not yet become comfortable using mechanical pencils for sketching.. they just don't feel right in my hands. I prefer using standard #2 wood pencils - Koh-i-noor Hardtmuth Toison D'Or 1900 in both HB and 2B. I usually carry half a dozen of each pre-sharpened in my sketch kit. I also carry one each of 4B through 9B Rexell Cumberland Derwent Graphic pencils.

I also have been testing out the following water-soluable Derwent pencils to provide simple colour. I will write up a report on what I find works for me and doesn't. I'll do this under a separate thread / topic.